Wikipedia

Rodney Bennett

Rodney Bennett (24 March 1935 – 3 January 2017) was a British television director. He worked for BBC Radio and directed television programmes for the BBC and ITV.

Rodney Bennett
Born(1935-03-24)24 March 1935
Chagford, Devon, England
Died3 January 2017(2017-01-03) (aged 81)
Alma mater
OccupationTelevision director
Employer(s)BBC and ITV
Known for

Early life and education

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Bennett was born in Chagford, Devon, and raised in Totnes. He studied psychology at St John's College, Cambridge, and also received a master's degree from University College London.[1]

Career

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Bennett began working for the BBC in radio and moved into television with the launch of BBC2. His subsequent work included directing episodes of Z-Cars[1] and three Doctor Who stories, The Ark in Space,[2][3] The Sontaran Experiment,[2][4] (both 1975) and The Masque of Mandragora (1976).[2][5] He also directed Derek Jacobi and Patrick Stewart in the BBC Shakespeare production of Hamlet in 1980. For ITV he directed the comedy-drama series Anything More Would Be Greedy in 1989 and episodes of The Darling Buds of May.[1] Bennett was responsible for the casting of Catherine Zeta Jones, and launching her career.[1]

Television credits

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  • 1969. Thirty-Minute Theatre. Directed three installments, Anything You Say (Series 3, Ep. 32); Aggers and Torters: Part 1: Back to Nature (Series 5, Ep. 7) and Aggers and Torters: Part 3: Hickory Dickory (Series 5, Ep. 9).
  • 1969. Z-Cars. Directed ten episodes: "Alibi: Part 1" (Series 6, Ep. 195); "Alibi: Part 2" (Series 6, Ep. 196); "No Objection to Bail: Part 1" (Series 6, Ep. 229); "No Objection to Bail: Part 2" (Series 6, Ep. 230); "You've Got to Keep Them Talking: Part 1" (Series 6, Ep. 237); "You've Got to Keep Them Talking: Part 2" (Series 6, Ep. 238); "Dear Old Golden Rule Days...: Part 1" (Series 6, Ep. 249); "Dear Old Golden Rule Days...: Part 2" (Series 6, Ep. 250); "It's Been a Long Time: Part 1" (Series 6, Ep. 257) and "It's Been a Long Time: Part 2" (Series 6, Ep. 258).
  • 1970. Thirty-Minute Theatre. Directed one installment, Reparation (Series 5, Ep. 15).
  • 1971. Thirty-Minute Theatre. Directed three installments, Asquith in Orbit (Series 6, Ep. 20); Gun Play (Series 7, Ep. 3) and Farewell Performance (Series 7, Ep. 13). Wrote Farewell Performance (Series 7, Ep. 13).
  • 1971. Trial. Directed one episode.
  • 1972. Dead of Night. Directed one episode, "Return Flight" (Series 1, Ep. 2).
  • 1972. Mistress of Hardwick. Directed all ten episodes: "They Expect a New Queen" (Ep. 1); "Honest Sweet Chatsworth" (Ep. 2); "Dangerous Alliance" (Ep. 3); "My Jewel Arbelle" (Ep. 4); "The Shrewsbury Scandal" (Ep. 5); "An Insatiable Dream" (Ep. 6); "Cousin to King James" (Ep. 7); "This Costly Countess" (Ep. 8); "Royal Prisoner" (Ep. 9) and "When Hardwick Towers Shall Bow Their Heads" (Ep. 10).
  • 1972. The Regiment. Directed one episode, "Days of Betrayal" (Series 1, Ep. 3).
  • 1972. Thirty-Minute Theatre. Directed one installment, Swiss Cottage (Series 7, Ep. 31).
  • 1973. Murder Must Advertise. Directed all four episodes.
  • 1973. Scene. Produced one episode: "Blackout" (Series 6, Ep. 1).
  • 1973. Thirty-Minute Theatre. Directed one installment, About a Bout (Series 8, Ep. 32).
  • 1973. Z-Cars. Directed one episode: "Cadet" (Series 8, Ep. 4).
  • 1974. The Case of Eliza Armstrong. Directed all six episodes: "The Committal, Bow Street, Days 1-5" (Ep. 1); "The Committal, Bow Street, Day 6" (Ep. 2); "The Trial, Old Bailey, the Prosecution Case" (Ep. 3); "The Trial, Old Bailey, Rebecca Jarrett" (Ep. 4); "The Trial, Old Bailey, Stead's Defence" (Ep. 5) and "The Trial, Old Bailey, the Summing Up" (Ep. 6). Wrote one episode: "The Committal, Bow Street, Days 1-5" (Ep. 1).
  • 1974. Z-Cars. Directed two episodes: "Two Wise Monkeys" (Series 8, Ep. 17) and "Dinner Break" (Series 8, Ep. 18).
  • 1975. Doctor Who serial The Ark in Space. Directed all four episodes.
  • 1975. Doctor Who serial The Sontaran Experiment. Directed both episodes.
  • 1975. Madame Bovary. Directed all four episodes.
  • 1975. North and South. Directed all four episodes.
  • 1976. Doctor Who serial The Masque of Mandragora. Directed all four episodes.
  • 1978. BBC2 Play of the Week. Directed one installment, Forgotten Love Songs (Series 1, Ep. 9).
  • 1978. The Lost Boys. Directed all three episodes: "We Set Out to be Wrecked" (Ep. 1); "Dark and Sinister Man" (Ep. 2) and "An Awfully Big Adventure" (Ep. 3).
  • 1978. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Directed all four episodes.
  • 1979. The Legend of King Arthur. Directed all eight episodes.
  • 1979. Tales of the Unexpected. Directed one episode: "Edward the Conqueror" (Series 1, Ep. 7).
  • 1980. BBC2 Playhouse. Directed one installment, Gentle Folk (Series 6, Ep. 9).
  • 1980. The BBC Television Shakespeare. Directed two installments: The Tempest (Series 2, Ep. 5) and Hamlet, Price of Denmark (Series 2, Ep. 6).
  • 1981. BBC2 Playhouse. Directed one installment, Autumn Sunshine (Series 8, Ep. 3).
  • 1981. Sense and Sensibility. Directed all seven episodes.
  • 1982. The Last Visitor. Director.
  • 1982. Play for Today. Directed one installment, John David (Series 13, Ep. 6).
  • 1982. Stalky & Co.. Directed all six episodes: "An Unsavoury Interlude" (Ep. 1); "In Ambush" (Ep. 2); "Slaves of the Lamp" (Ep. 3); "The Moral Reformeders" (Ep. 4); "A Little Prep" (Ep. 5) and "The Last term" (Ep. 6).
  • 1983. Dombey and Son. Directed all ten episodes.
  • 1984. Edwin. Director. Television film starring Alec Guinness, Renée Asherson and Paul Rogers.
  • 1984. Love and Marriage. Directed one episode: "Dearly Beloved" (Series 1, Ep. 2).
  • 1985. Love Song. Director. Television film starring Maurice Denham, Michael Kitchen and Constance Cummings.
  • 1985. Monsignor Quixote. Director. Television film starring Alec Guinness, Leo McKern and Ian Richardson.
  • 1987. Rumpole of the Bailey. Directed two episodes: "Rumpole and the Official Secret" (Series 4, Ep. 3) and "Rumpole's Last Case" (Series 4, Ep. 6).
  • 1988. Tales of the Unexpected. Directed two episodes: "The Verger" (Series 9, Ep. 4) and "The Finger of Suspicion" (Series 9, Ep. 8).
  • 1989. Anything More Would Be Greedy. Directed all six episodes: "Enigma Variations" (Ep. 1); "Trading Favours" (Ep. 2); "Playing Games" (Ep. 3); "Realizing Assets" (Ep. 4); "Second Term" (Ep. 5) and "Georgian Silver" (ep. 6).
  • 1991. The Darling Buds of May. Directed two episodes: "The Darling Buds of May Part 1" (Series 1, Ep. 1) and "The Darling Buds of May Part 2" (Series 1, Ep. 2).
  • 1991. The House of Eliott. Directed two episodes: (Series 1, Ep. 1) and (Series 1, Ep. 2).
  • 1993. The Darling Buds of May. Directed two episodes: "Cast Not Your Pearls Before Swine Part 1" (Series 3, Ep. 3) and "Cast Not Your Pearls Before Swine Part 2" (Series 3, Ep. 4).
  • 1993. Soldier Soldier. Directed two episodes: "Hide and Seek" (Series 3, Ep. 6) and "Staying Together" (Series 3, Ep. 10).
  • 1994. Soldier Soldier. Directed two episodes: "Stormy Weather" (Series 4, Ep. 1) and "Away Games" (Series 4, Ep. 2).
  • 1996. Doctor Finlay. Directed four episodes: "All Jock Tamson's Bairns" (Series 4, Ep. 1); "Home Truths" (Series 4, Ep. 2); "Days of Grace" (Series 4, Ep. 3) and "Snowblind" (Series 4, Ep. 8).

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "Obituary - Rodney Bennett, director of Darling Buds of May and Doctor Who". The Herald. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Miles, Lawrence (2004). About Time 1975-1979. Des Moines, Iowa, USA: Mad Norwegian Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0975944639.
  3. ↑ "The Ark in Space". Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide. BBC. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "The Sontaran Experiment". Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide. BBC. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "The Masque of Mandragora". Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide. BBC. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
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